1914 Grand Prix season

Grand Prix season 1914 Grand Prix season 1913 1915 June 2023 The 1914 Grand Prix season consisted of Grand Prix races across Europe and the United States until abbreviated by the outbreak of World War I. The Vanderbilt Cup and the American Grand Prize were held again after a year’s abeyance, this time raced at Santa Monica, California. European cars arrived in force to contest the Indianapolis 500. French cars dominated the race taking the top four places with victory going to René Thomas in a Delage. The unofficial AAA national championship would be awarded to Ralph DePalma. thumb|300px|right|Christian Lautenschlager, winner of the French Grand Prix The French Grand Prix was in Lyon, this time with a maximum engine size of 4.5-litres. Held in the shadow of political crisis in Europe, it was hailed as the greatest race to date, after an epic battle between the Peugeot and Mercedes. After Georges Boillot had engine problems on the last lap, it left the German team with a dominating 1-2-3 finish, led by Christian Lautenschlager who had won the race before, in 1908. It proved to be the last major race before war overtook Europe in August 1914. Major races Sources: Golden Era of Grand Prix Racing http://www.kolumbus.fi/leif.snellman/gpw1.htm 2019-07-08 2009-04-13 https://web.archive.org/web/20090413060254/http://www.kolumbus.fi/leif.snellman/gpw1.htm deadGEL Motorsport Information Page http://www.teamdan.com/archive/gen/1914/1914.html 2019-09-06 2008-04-21 https://web.archive.org/web/20080421010755/http://www.teamdan.com/archive/gen/1914/1914.html dead Rendall 1993, p.358Monkhouse 1953, p.232-79 Date Name Circuit RaceRegulations RaceDistance Winner’sTime Winning driver Winningconstructor Report 26 Feb United States 1912 IX Vanderbilt Cup Santa Monica Vanderbilt 300 miles 3h 54m USA 1912 Ralph DePalma Mercedes GP Report 28 Feb United States 1912 V American Grand Prize Formula Libre 400 miles 5h 14m USA 1912 Eddie Pullen Mercer 35-R Report 14 Apr ITA 1861 Coppa Florio Madonie Targa Florio 445 km ~8h ITA 1861 Felice Nazzaro Nazzaro Report 24/25 May Italy 1861 IX Targa Florio(Giro di Sicilia) Sicily Targa Florio 980 km 16h 52m Italy 1861 Ernesto Ceirano SCAT 22/32 Report 30 May United States 1912 IV Indianapolis 500 Indianapolis AAA 500 miles 6h 04m FRA René Thomas Delage Type Y Report 31 May RUS II Russian Grand Prix St Petersburg GER empire Willy Scholl Benz 55/150hp Report 10/11 Jun GBR Tourist Trophy Isle of Man 600 miles 10h 38m GBR Kenelm Lee Guinness Sunbeam 3.3L Report 4 July FRA XIV French Grand Prix Lyon ACF 750 km 7h 08m DEU empire Christian Lautenschlager Mercedes GP 18/100 Report Regulations and technical The three main American races all ran to different regulations: the Vanderbilt Cup’s engine limits were 301 – 600 cu in, Indianapolis had a maximum engine size of 450 cu in, while the Grand Prize had an open formula.Grand Prix Winners 1895–1949 http://www.kolumbus.fi/leif.snellman/gpw5.htm 2019-08-26 2007-09-30 https://web.archive.org/web/20070930012944/http://www.kolumbus.fi/leif.snellman/gpw5.htm dead Hoping to minimise the impact of the big-engined cars of foreign manufacturers, the ACF changed its regulations again for the first time to impose a maximum engine size Rendall 1993, p.72-3 – of 4.5-litres, along with an allowable weight range of 800-1100kg (excluding fluids and tools). This tended to favour those companies that had invested in voiturette racing, Peugeot, Delage and Sunbeam. Ludvigsen 2009, p.33 There was also an entry limit of five cars per manufacturer.Grand Prix Winners 1895–1949 http://www.kolumbus.fi/leif.snellman/gpw5.htm 2019-08-26 2007-09-30 https://web.archive.org/web/20070930012944/http://www.kolumbus.fi/leif.snellman/gpw5.htm dead For this, Peugeot unveiled its new EX-5 from Ernest Henry, with a twin-overhead cam 4.5-litre four-cylinder engine. Both the Delages and Peugeots had four-wheel brakes for the first time, along with FIAT. Rendall 1993, p.74-5 In response, the Mercedes 18/100 GP, designed by Paul Daimler, developed 115 bhp. The 4.5-litre engine had four valves per cylinder and a single overhead camshaft. Cimarosti 1997, p.49-50 Fox 1973, p.15-6 Gone was the chain-drive, instead a lighter live rear-axle was used. However, they did persist with rear brakes only. Despite a better top-end speed from the Peugeot’s streamlined rear-end, Fox 1973, p.19 the Mercedes’ lower centre-of-gravity and better road-holding gave it an edge over the French cars. Cimarosti 1997, p.49-50 Manufacturer Model Cimarosti 1997, p.53 Engine PowerOutput Max. Speed (km/h) Dry Weight (kg) FRA Peugeot EX-5 Peugeot 4.5L S4 112 bhp 185 1060 FRA Delage Type S Delage 4.4L S4 113 bhp 160 1098 DEU empire Mercedes GP 18/100 Mercedes 4.5L S4 115 bhp 180 1092 GBR Sunbeam Sunbeam 4.4L S4 115 bhp 165 1095 ITA 1861 FIAT S57/14B FIAT 4.5L S4 135 bhp 145 1025 FRA Th. Schneider Th. Schneider 4.4L S4 110 bhp 150 1085 FRA Alda Alda 4.4L S4 100 bhp 155 1010 DEU empire Opel Opel 4.4L S4 105 bhp 160 935 GBR Vauxhall Vauxhall 4.5L S4 130 bhp 160 1070 ITA 1861 Aquila Italiana Aquila Italiana 4.5L S6 118 bhp 150 1095 ITA 1861 ALFA ALFA 4.5L S6 88 bhp 150 1050 ITA 1861 Nazzaro Nazzaro 4.4L S4 100 bhp 155 1095 United States 1912 Duesenberg Duesenberg 5.9L S4 95 bhp 165 1020 United States 1912 Maxwell Maxwell 4.9L S4 130 bhp 175 1010 Season review The Vanderbilt Cup and American Grand Prize were revived this year and once again held as a combined meeting, this time on an 8-mile road circuit at Santa Monica, California. The press touted the Cup as a grudge match between rivals Ralph DePalma and Barney Oldfield. DePalma had walked out from his role as team leader at Mercer when they hired Oldfield without asking him first. DePalma retrieved the Mercedes with which he had won the 1912 race. From the start Oldfield’s teammate Eddie Pullen took the lead until he lost a wheel. Then Oldfield and DePalma ran wheel to wheel until DePalma sold a dummy on stopping for a tyre change. Oldfield took the bait and pitted, allowing the older Mercedes to race onto victory. thumb|300px|right|DePalma taking the flag at the Vanderbilt Cup Two days later, 250000 spectators and most of the same cars returned for the Grand Prize. Spencer Wishart led in his Mercer for most of the first half of the race until stopped by engine problems. DePalma took over but this time his engine gave out as well. Pullen got to the front and carried on to win – his Mercer being the first American car to win the Grand Prize delighting the crowd. After Peugeot’s success at Indianapolis in 1913, more European teams returned for the 1914 race and the race promised to be a great showdown between the best drivers from both sides of the Atlantic with most of the best teams present. Peugeot sent its new EX-5 with regular team drivers Georges Boillot and Jules Goux (returning 1913 winner) along with a 3-litre EX-3 for Belgian Arthur Duray. Delage sent its 7.0-litre Type Y for René Thomas and Albert Guyot. Venables 2009, p.32 Peugeot engineer Ettore Bugatti had Ernest Friderich in one of his own cars. As well as an Italian Isotta Fraschini and a Belgian Excelsior, Ralph Mulford returned with his Mercedes. Sunbeam came from England with Jean Chassagne and another car for Harry Grant. The American teams from Mercer, Stutz and Mason entered, with much the same driver line-ups from Santa Monica. Barney Oldfield however had switched to Stutz. Inaugural winner Ray Harroun designed the Maxwell car for Teddy Tetzlaff and Billy Carlson. Boillot was the fastest in the elimination trials, setting a lap record of 99.9 mph. Second was team-mate Goux with Tetzlaff third. In a big surprise, Ralph DePalma failed to qualify in his privateer Mercedes. In the random draw it was Chassagne’s Sunbeam that got the pole position, while Boillot got the second-to-last position of the 30 qualifiers. thumb|300px|right|Thomas’s Delage, winning car of the Indianapolis 500 The three Peugeots soon got to the front and were setting the pace until thwarted by tyre problems. One delaminated on Boillot’s car spinning him off the track and Goux lost time with a number of stops. On lap 42 Ray Gilhooley crashed his Isotta on the back straight. As his mechanic was escaping the wreck Joe Dawson had to take drastic avoiding action and rolled his Marmon in an accident that ended his career. In the end it was dominant victory for René Thomas and Delage, who led for over half the race winning with over a 6-minute, four-lap margin from Arthur Duray in the 3-litre Peugeot. Thomas’ teammate Guyot was third with Goux coming in fourth. First American home was Barney Oldfield, fifth in the Stutz. After another dozen rounds at eight other circuits, the AAA national championship would be unofficially awarded to Ralph DePalma. On 4 July at the Sioux City race, Eddie Rickenbacker had scored the first victory for Fred Duesenberg’s new team (formerly Mason). Sadly, top driver Spencer Wishart, second at the previous year’s Indianapolis race, was killed when his Mercer crashed during the Elgin Trophy races. Two other racing events returned, both last held in 1908. The Coppa Florio was won that year by Felice Nazzaro in a FIAT. This time it ran over three laps on the Madonie course in Sicily. It was won again by Nazzaro, this time in his own car repeating his triumph from the 1913 Targa Florio. Cimarosti 1997, p.48 Second was Ernesto Ceirano in his company’s SCAT. Six weeks later the Targa Florio again ran as the Giro di Sicilia around the coastal roads of Sicily. A two-day event, this time it stopped overnight in Syracuse. Ceirano won in 17 hours, at a record speed of 62 km/h and a comfortable 2-hour margin.La Targa Florio https://www.targaflorio.info/09.htm 2019-09-06 Similarly, the RAC Tourist Trophy was held after a hiatus of six years. Raced on the Isle of Man, it was staged over two days with eight laps on each day, and for the first time offered a cash prize – the considerable sum of £1000. Kenelm Lee Guinness, of the famous brewing family, won in a 3.4-litre Sunbeam from a pair of Belgian Minervas.6th Gear https://www.forix.com/8w/6thgear/gp-yby.html#1914 2019-09-15 On 28 June, the heir to the Austro-Hungarian empire was assassinated in Sarajevo. By co-incidence, one of the royal chauffeurs was former Mercedes works-driver Otto Merz. A week later, the French Grand Prix was held under an increasingly tense political situation across Europe. The city of Lyon promised large subsidies and the race was held on a 38 km road circuit to the south of the city. It ran from Les Ronzières to Givors, then along the bank of the Gier (a tributary of the Rhône) to Châteauneuf before taking an undulating 15km straight back to a steep downhill right-left and a hairpin to complete the lap. Cimarosti 1997, p.46-47 thumb|300px|right|Sailer setting the pace in his Mercedes at the Grand Prix The race attracted a high-quality field of 37 starters from 13 manufacturers. Peugeot were the favourites to repeat their victories in 1912 and 1913. They arrived with three of their new L-45 cars for Boillot, Goux and Victor Rigal. Louis Delâge bought the new 5-speed Type S for Guyot, Duray and Paul Bablot. New French company Alva convinced Ferenc Szisz, winner of the inaugural Grand Prix in 1906, out of retirement to lead their team. Their most serious opposition to the French teams would come from Mercedes, returning to the Grand Prix for the first time since winning in 1908. Five of the six 18/100 cars built were entered with a strong team of drivers led by Christian Lautenschlager, victor in 1908, along with Otto Salzer, Mercedes director Max Sailer, Legate 2006, p.11 French veteran Louis Wagner and Belgian agent Théodore Pilette. In January, as part of its meticulous preparation, Mercedes had sent its team to France to go over the track. Fox 1973, p.20-1 Opel arrived with the lightest cars in the field, well over 100kg lighter than most others. Carl Jörns led a team of three cars. From Italy came FIAT (including veteran Alessandro Cagno), Felice Nazzaro’s own team and a single entry from Aquila Italiana. Great Britain was represented by Sunbeam (Resta, Lee Guinness and Chassagne) and Vauxhall who included American Ralph DePalma in their squad. thumb|300px|right|Boillot’s Peugeot at the French Grand Prix Race-day was hot and fine, and about 300,000 spectators lined the roads. The cars started the 20-lap race in pairs in numerical order, at 30-second intervals. First away were Szisz and Jörns, Venables 2009, p.34 but Boillot was the first to arrive back at the finish-line. However, Sailer was ahead on elapsed-time and from the beginning he forced the pace, drawing Boillot into a speed-contest to try and break the Peugeot. On the sixth lap though his Mercedes stopped with engine problems letting Boillot take over the lead. By the 11th lap, just after the halfway mark, Wagner had passed Goux then Lautenschlager to move into second. Szisz had pulled over to replace a wheel, when he was struck by an Opel, that broke his arm.Vanderbilt Cup Races https://www.vanderbiltcupraces.com/drivers/bio/ferenc_szisz 2019-09-12GEL Motorsport Information Page http://www.teamdan.com/archive/gen/1914/1914.html 2019-09-06 2008-04-21 https://web.archive.org/web/20080421010755/http://www.teamdan.com/archive/gen/1914/1914.html dead At the three-quarter mark, Lautenschlager retook second place and started closing on the Peugeot only two and a half minutes ahead. In an epic drive under relentless pressure, Boillot pushed his car to its limit but to no avail. On the eighteenth lap the German took the lead and set about building the gap. Now down to three cylinders, Fox 1973, p.25 Boillot kept pushing regardless but on the last lap his engine expired leaving Mercedes, after seven hours, to take a crushing 1-2-3 victory with Lautenschlager repeating his 1908 win ahead of Wagner and Salzer. The French crowd was silent, with Goux’s fourth place nearly ten minutes back ahead of Resta’s Sunbeam being scant consolation. With his 25000 franc prizemoney, Lautenschlager was able to build himself a house. And so it was that perhaps the greatest race of the early period of motor-racing was also the last. Within a month, Europe had descended into total war and racing ceased there for four years. A number of racers served in the war. Georges Boillot was initially the personal driver for Marshal Joffre, Venables 2009, p.30 but then transferred to the French Air Force (Armée de l'Air) as a fighter pilot. He was killed in a dogfight over Verdun in 1916. Eddie Rickenbacker became the highest scoring ace in the American Air Service. Awarded the Distinguished Service Cross eight times and Medal of Honor (in 1930), he survived the war to take up racing again.June 2023 Citations 30em References Cimarosti, Adriano (1997) The Complete History of Grand Prix Motor Racing London: Aurum Press Ltd 1-85410-500-0 Fox, Charles (1973) The Great Racing Cars & Drivers London: Octopus Books Ltd 0-7064-0213-8 Georgano, Nick (1971) The Encyclopaedia of Motor Sport London: Ebury Press Ltd 0-7181-0955-4 Higham, Peter (1995) The Guinness Guide to International Motor Racing London: Guinness Publishing 0-85112-642-1 Legate, Trevor (2006) 100 years of Grand Prix Kent: Touchstone Books Ltd 0-9551-0201-4 Ludvigsen, Karl (2008) Racing Colours - Italian Racing Red Surrey: Ian Allan Publishing Ltd 0-7110-3331-5 Ludvigsen, Karl (2009) Racing Colours - German Racing Silver Surrey: Ian Allan Publishing Ltd 0-7110-3368-4 Monkhouse, George (1953) Grand Prix Racing Facts and Figures London: G.T. Foulis & Co Ltd Rendall, Ivan (1991) The Power and The Glory – A Century of Motor Racing London: BBC Books 0-563-36093-3 Rendall, Ivan (1993) The Chequered Flag – 100 years of Motor Racing London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson Ltd 0-297-83220-4 Venables, David (2009) Racing Colours - French Racing Blue Surrey: Ian Allan Publishing Ltd 978-0-7110-3369-6 External links Grand Prix Winners 1895–1949 : Part 1 (1895–1916) https://web.archive.org/web/20090413060254/http://www.kolumbus.fi/leif.snellman/gpw1.htm 2009-04-13  – list of the races and winners. Retrieved 28 Aug 2019 Grand Prix Winners 1895–1949 : History https://web.archive.org/web/20070930012944/http://www.kolumbus.fi/leif.snellman/gpw5.htm 2007-09-30  – Hans Etzrodt’s description of the annual regulations, and changes. Retrieved 7 Jun 2019 GEL Motorsport Information Page  - Darren Galpan’s list of the races, entrants and results. Retrieved 6 Sep 2019 Motorsport Memorial – motor-racing deaths by year. Retrieved 28 Aug 2019 La Targa Florio – race report and pictures of the Targa Florio. Retrieved 6 Sep 2019 Grand Prix History – history of the Targa Florio race. Retrieved 7 Jul 2019 The Vanderbilt Cup – entrants and results of the Vanderbilt Cup. Retrieved 6 Sep 2019 MotorSport magazine – race results of AAA championship. Retrieved 28 Aug 2019 Category:Grand Prix seasons Grand Prix season Grand Prix season